CITY OF SAN MATEO
CITY OF SAN MATEO
Agenda Report
City Hall
330 W. 20th Avenue
San Mateo CA 94403
www.cityofsanmateo.org
Agenda Number: 6 Section Name: CONSENT CALENDAR Account Number: 10-1711 File ID: 26-11105 TO: City Council
FROM: Prasanna W. Rasiah, City Attorney
PREPARED BY: City Attorney's Office
MEETING DATE: April 20, 2026
SUBJECT:
Participation in National Opioid Settlement Agreement — Approval RECOMMENDATION:
Approve the City’s participation in a no-cost opioid settlement agreement with Associated Pharmacies, Inc. (and American Associated Pharmacies); J M Smith Corporation; Louisiana Wholesale Drug Company, Inc.; Morris and Dickson Co.; North Carolina Mutual Wholesale Drug Company, Inc.; and United Natural Foods, Inc. (including its subsidiaries SuperValu and Advantage Logistics); and authorize the City Attorney to execute documents confirming the City’s participation and electing to have the settlement funds be provided directly to the City of San Mateo.
BACKGROUND:
On September 15, 2025, the City Council approved participation in opioid settlement agreements with Purdue Pharma, Alvogen, Amneal, Apotex, Hikma, Indivior, Sun and Zydus. In addition, participation in a settlement with Mylan, another opioid manufacturer, was approved by City Council on October 6, 2025. This staff report requests participation in a similar settlement with: Associated Pharmacies, Inc. (and American Associated Pharmacies); J M Smith Corporation; Louisiana Wholesale Drug Company, Inc.; Morris and Dickson Co.; North Carolina Mutual Wholesale Drug Company, Inc.; and United Natural Foods, Inc. (including its subsidiaries SuperValu and Advantage Logistics).
Over the last several years, a number of nationwide litigation matters have been filed against manufacturers, distributors, and retailers of opioids. The allegations in these lawsuits have generally been that the defendants were complicit in the increasing problem of opioid addiction in the United States, and that they knew or should have known that the products they made or sold were being misused.
On December 6, 2021, the City Council first authorized the City Attorney to take all necessary steps and execute appropriate documents to participate in opioid settlement agreements with three opioid distributors – Cardinal Health, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen (hereinafter, the “Distributors”) and the opioid manufacturer Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which is owned by Johnson and Johnson (collectively, “J&J”), and agree to implementing agreements. The City later joined settlement agreements involving Teva, Allergan, Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, and Purdue, among other entities. The State of California also came to a proposed settlement amount of $290 million with the opioid manufacturer Mylan. Like the other opioid settlements, local government support and sign-on are required to maximize the amount coming to our communities and eligible cities may elect to receive direct payment or have their allocated share go to the county in which they are located.
The amount the City will receive from these settlements is multi-factored and dependent on how many local agencies participate in the settlements. As an example, in 2022, the City Council authorized participation in a settlement agreement with J&J in the approximate amount of $820,000. From that settlement, the City was distributed approximately $28,000.
Signing the participation agreement involving this opioid manufacturer will help direct settlement funds towards opioid
CITY OF SAN MATEO
mitigation efforts locally. If the City opts into the settlements, it must release its claims against all of these entities. The deadline to join this settlement is May 4, 2026.
These funds will go to the City if it joins the settlement Funds going directly to participating states and subdivisions must be used for pre-approved purposes designed to help abate the opioid epidemic. These include a wide range of intervention, treatment, education, and recovery services. If the City receives direct payment it is obligated to report on the use of the funds, which must be used primarily for opioid abatement. The funds received by the City to date have been used to offset the cost of a mental health clinician at SMPD. The clinician accompanies sworn police officers on calls for service involving individuals experiencing a mental health crisis because a significant number of these calls involve crises related to substance abuse, including opioids.
BUDGET IMPACT:
There is no immediate budget impact for taking this action as it involves a decision whether to participate in a settlement agreement. Once the number of participating cities and counties is determined, a settlement administrator will calculate and distribute the settlement payment to the City. The City has received a total amount of $186,141 in opioid payments from various settlement agreements in which the City Council previously authorized participation. Thus far in fiscal year 25/26 the total amount in opioid payments is $109,287.
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION:
This proposed action is not a project subject to CEQA, because it is an organizational or administrative activity that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the environment. (CEQA Guidelines Section 15378(b)(5).)
NOTICE PROVIDED
All meeting noticing requirements were met.
ATTACHMENTS
None
STAFF CONTACT
Prasanna W. Rasiah, City Attorney
[email protected]
(650) 522-7020